The Billion-Dollar Brand Maker, Linda Johansen-James

How do you grow a business from scratch to create a global presence in 3 countries, 600 staffed locations, 1800 employees and 1000 automated stores throughout North America, Australia and New Zealand?You go like Hell, and figure out what you did wrong later! Linda Johansen-James shares her extraordinary story of meeting Max James, the founder of North American Kiosk, their massive hyper-growth strategy, and Linda's emerging company, International Retail Group. You're going to love this episode as Linda shares her journey from working to build AKM, to meeting Daymond John of The Shark Tank, to employees who've become life-long friends. About Linda Johansen-James: Why do household names like Guthy-Renker, Proactiv®, Flip Flop Shops and 
Barbell Apparel brands work with Linda Johansen-James time and time again? 
Because she gets results. Linda Johansen-James is the Founder and CEO of International Retail Group, LLC, 
a boutique retail management and consulting firm that works with such notable 
brands as Revlon, Hess Toy Truck, SolarCity, Blue Moon CBD, Harry&David’s Brands: Moose Munch®, Cheryl’s Cookies®, Shari’s Berries® to name a few. 

Whether managing and staffing hundreds of brick & mortar stores, Pop-Up Stores 
and carts or creating dynamic training programs, and testing products, Linda is 
well known in the industry as a powerhouse who understands what today’s 
shopper really wants. About Awakened Nation: A Deep Dive Into The Extraordinary With guests like Dog The Bounty Hunter, NY Times Bestsellers Panache Desai, Stephen M.R. Covey, and Dan Millman, Chester Bennington's original band mates from Grey Daze, Star Wars artist Matt Busch, Grammy® nominated recording artist David Young, BNI founder Ivan Meisner, David Bowie promoter Tony Michaelides, MLB player Shea Hillenbrand, and many more...host Brad Szollose sets out to ignite game-changing conversations with today's outliers and cutting edge entrepreneurs, idea makers and disruptors—conversations that take a deep dive into the extraordinary. This podcast will shift your thinking. Think Art Bell meets Joe Rogan.Conversational. Warm. Unexpected. Controversial.